We are currently in a season of priestly vacancy, after Reverend Alison Brunt retired earlier this year. You can read her profile below.
Our last vicar, the Reverend Alison Brunt, served St Oswald's from July 2015 to February 2026, when she retired.
Alison followed the call to ministry after a career in education, as a teacher, advisory teacher of mathematics and finally as a lead officer for the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics. She maintains her interest in education through being a Church of England representative on the Croydon Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education and as a governor of Kensington Avenue Primary School.
Alison was ordained in 2012 and spent a three year curacy in the South Croydon Benefice before taking up the incumbency at St Oswald’s. She loved the diversity of St Oswald’s, the warm welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, the generosity of spirit of the congregation and the deep faith expressed by members in words and actions that express their love for others and commitment to social justice.
As a minister she loved exploring ways of helping people to develop their spirituality; using the resources of the liturgy to make worship meaningful and inclusive and working with families coming for the occasional offices and leading their baptism, wedding and funeral services. The Eucharist is at the heart of her relationship with God and she greatly values the privilege of leading the congregation to their own encounters with God through the sacrament.
Alison lived at the vicarage with her husband Tim, who is also an ordained priest and their cat Mollie who occasionally joined the congregation for worship.